Nottingham print firm re-enters administration

Printing giant Polestar, which has an operation in Nottingham, has slipped into administration again – just four weeks after being sold in a £65m pre-pack deal.

The latest development puts at risk nearly 2,000 jobs across the firm’s sites in Banbury, Bicester, Chantry, Exeter, Nottingham and Sheffield.

Polestar Applied Solutions operates from Annesley and is the £20m transactional/direct mail and technology division of Polestar UK Print

The Polestar Group was established in 1998 and now produces more than 50 million products a week for newspaper supplements, magazines, retail and journals and reference publications. Employing a direct workforce of more than 1,500, as well as 150 outsourced staff and 350 agency contractors, the group had a turnover of approximately £200m.

However, it called the administrators in on 24 March after which the business and certain of the Group’s assets were bought Polestar UK Print, a new UK-registered company set up with support from Proventus Capital Partners, which is the Group’s major shareholder.

Now, the new company has filed for administration again after its biggest customer DMG Media, which publishes the Daily Mail, has given it 90 days’ notice. DMG was Polestar’s biggest client.

Unite national officer Ian Tonks said: “This is bitter news for our members. Over the coming days Unite will be doing everything in its power to support them and preserve their jobs.

“We firmly believe that Polestar has a future and can be successful. Its workforce is second to none and produces some of the best quality print in the UK.

“We have been in contact with the administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers and will be working closely with them throughout the process to ensure that the business is sold to a viable buyer.”